Systems and methods of icemaker control

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for controlling the operation of an icemaker. For instance, a usage profile can be determined for an icemaker based at least in part on previous icemaker activity during one or more periods of time. The usage profile can be indicative of an amount of ice to be made by the icemaker at various times. The icemaker can then be configured to make ice in accordance with the usage profile.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present subject matter relates to an icemaker assembly, and moreparticularly to systems and methods for regulating an amount of ice madeby an icemaker assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various icemaker designs have been proposed for refrigeration appliancessuch as commercial or home refrigerators and/or freezers. In certainautomatic icemakers, water is provided from an external source to achilled ice cube mold. Once the water freezes into ice, the ice cubes inthe mold are harvested and the cycle is repeated. Ice cube removal canbe assisted by a brief heating of the mold to separate the ice cubesfrom the mold, if desired. Often, a sensor is present to detect an icelevel in the ice bucket as ice builds up in the ice bucket as the cycleprogresses. If the ice level in the bucket reaches a certainpredetermined amount (i.e., the ice bucket is full), the cycle is halteduntil ice is removed from the ice bucket thereby lowering the ice level.In many refrigeration appliances, this cycle repeats automatically untilthe ice level sensor indicates a full ice bucket.

Such ice making techniques may be wasteful and/or inefficient. Forinstance, one or more users of a refrigeration appliance may not requirean amount of ice corresponding to a full ice bucket at all times of theday. In such instances, ice may go unused and may remain in the icebucket for substantial periods of time. In this manner, ice that is madeearlier will generally be located towards the bottom of the ice bucketand dispensed before fresher ice that is made later. Accordingly, a usermay not receive fresh ice when requesting ice from the icemaker.Additionally, large amounts of ice that accumulate towards the bottom ofthe ice bucket may often fuse together and clog the icemaker. Thus thereis a need for an improved icemaker assembly that can regulate an amountof ice created based at least in part on a user's needs and/or pastinteractions with the icemaker assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in thefollowing description, or may be obvious from the description, or may belearned through practice of the invention.

One example aspect of the present disclosure is directed to acomputer-implemented method of regulating the operation of an icemaker.The method includes receiving, by one or more computing devices, one ormore signals indicative of icemaker activity over one or more timeperiods. The method further includes determining, by the one or morecomputing devices, a usage profile associated with the icemaker based atleast in part on the one or more received signals. The usage profile isassociated with an amount of ice to be made by the icemaker. The methodfurther includes controlling by the one or more computing devices, theoperation of the icemaker such that the icemaker makes ice in accordancewith the usage profile.

Another example aspect of the present disclosure is directed to anicemaker assembly for an appliance. The icemaker assembly includes anice cube mold configured to form ice cubes, a water valve configured toprovide water to the ice cube mold, an ice cube storage bin associatedwith the ice cube mold configured to receive ice cubes from the ice cubemold, an ice cube storage bin sensor configured to sense an ice cubelevel in the ice cube storage bin, and one or more controllersassociated with the icemaker assembly. The one or more controllers areconfigured to control an amount of ice cubes formed by the ice cube moldby receiving one or more signals indicative of icemaker assemblyactivity during one or more time periods. The one or more controllersare further configured to control an amount of ice cubes formed by theice cube mold by determining a usage profile associated with theicemaker. The usage profile is associated with an amount of ice to bemade by the icemaker assembly. The one or more controllers are furtherconfigured to control an amount of ice cubes formed by the ice cube moldby controlling the operation of the icemaker assembly such that theicemaker assembly makes ice in accordance with the usage profile.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a system forcontrolling the operation of an icemaker. The system includes one ormore processors and one or more memory devices. The one or more memorydevices store computer-readable instructions that when executed by theone or more processors cause the one or more processors to performoperations. The operations include receiving one or more signalsindicative of activity of an icemaker assembly during one or more timeperiods. The icemaker assembly is configured to make an amount of iceand store the ice in an ice storage bin. The operations further includedetermining a usage profile associated with the icemaker assembly basedat least in part on the one or more received signals. The usage profileis associated with an amount of ice to be made by the icemaker assembly.The operations further include controlling the operation of the icemakerassembly such that the icemaker assembly makes ice in accordance withthe usage profile.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdescription and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which areincorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrateembodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serveto explain the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including thebest mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is setforth in the specification, which makes reference to the appendedfigures, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an example refrigeration appliance according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts an example refrigeration appliance according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 3-5 depict an example icemaker assembly according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 depicts an example system for controlling the operation of anicemaker assembly according to example embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of an example method of controlling theoperation of an icemaker assembly according to example embodiments ofthe present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 depicts a flow diagram of an example method of controlling theoperation of an icemaker assembly according to example embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention,one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Eachexample is provided by way of explanation of the invention, notlimitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be madein the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit ofthe invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as partof one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a stillfurther embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present inventioncovers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to regulatingan operation of an icemaker assembly. In particular, an icemakerassembly can be controlled based at least in part on one or moreprevious interactions with the icemaker assembly. For instance, activityassociated with an icemaker assembly during one or more time periods canbe monitored and used to determine a usage profile associated with theicemaker assembly. The monitored activity can include a number oficemaker cycles performed by the icemaker over one or more time periods.The monitored activity can further include a number of instances inwhich ice is dispensed by a dispenser associated with the icemaker (e.g.responsive to a user request for ice), and/or a time during which ice isdispensed by the dispenser. The time can correspond to an accumulatedtime in which ice is dispensed over one or more time periods. The one ormore time periods can correspond to one or more hours, days, weeks, etc.

The usage profile associated with the icemaker can correspond to anamount of ice to be made by the icemaker at various times. The usageprofile can be determined based at least in part on the monitoredactivity, and can be determined to reflect previous interactions of oneor more users with the icemaker (e.g. previous ice request patterns).For instance, based on the monitored activity, it can be determinedthat, on average, between about 50 and 80 ice cubes are dispensed by arefrigeration appliance per day. In particular, the number of ice cubesand/or amount of ice (e.g. in the instance wherein crushed or shaved iceis dispensed) can be estimated based at least in part on the monitoredactivity. For instance, the number of ice cubes can be estimated basedat least in part on the number of cycles performed by the icemaker, thenumber of instances in which ice was dispensed and/or the accumulatedtime during which ice was dispensed. In example embodiments, the numberof ice cubes can further be determined by variations in the level of icein the ice bucket. For instance, in some scenarios, a user may receiveice directly from the ice bucket, and not through the dispenser.

The usage profile can reflect an amount of ice. As another example, theusage profile may include different amounts of ice for different daysand/or times of day. For instance, monitored activity may indicate thatvery little ice is dispensed by the dispenser during work hours onweekdays. Accordingly, the usage profile can provide for a correspondingamount of ice to be made during such times to reflect such generalpatterns. The usage profile can be implemented by one or morecontrollers associated with the refrigeration appliance, which cancontrol an amount of ice made by the icemaker based at least in part onthe usage profile.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary refrigeration appliance 10depicted as a refrigerator in which one or more ice-making assemblies inaccordance with aspects of the present invention may be utilized. Itshould be appreciated that the appliance of FIG. 1 is for illustrativepurposes only and that the present invention is not limited to anyparticular type, style, or configuration of refrigeration appliance, andthat such appliance may include any manner of refrigerator, freezer,refrigerator/freezer combination, and so forth.

Referring to FIG. 2, the refrigerator 10 includes a fresh food storagecompartment 12 and a freezer storage compartment 14, with thecompartments arranged side-by-side and contained within an outer case 16and inner liners 18 and 20 generally molded from a suitable plasticmaterial. In smaller refrigerators 10, a single liner is formed and amullion spans between opposite sides of the liner to divide it into afreezer storage compartment and a fresh food storage compartment. Theouter case 16 is normally formed by folding a sheet of a suitablematerial, such as pre-painted steel, into an inverted U-shape to formtop and side walls of the outer case 16. A bottom wall of the outer case16 normally is formed separately and attached to the case side walls andto a bottom frame that provides support for refrigerator 10.

A breaker strip 22 extends between a case front flange and outer frontedges of inner liners 18 and 20. The breaker strip 22 is formed from asuitable resilient material, such as an extrudedacrylo-butadiene-styrene based material (commonly referred to as ABS).The insulation in the space between inner liners 18 and 20 is covered byanother strip of suitable resilient material, which also commonly isreferred to as a mullion 24 and may be formed of an extruded ABSmaterial. Breaker strip 22 and mullion 24 form a front face, and extendcompletely around inner peripheral edges of the outer case 16 andvertically between inner liners 18 and 20.

Slide-out drawers 26, a storage bin 28 and shelves 30 are normallyprovided in fresh food storage compartment 12 to support items beingstored therein. In addition, at least one shelf 30 and at least one wirebasket 32 are also provided in freezer storage compartment 14.

The refrigerator features can be controlled by a controller 34 accordingto user preference via manipulation of a control interface 36 mounted inan upper region of fresh food storage compartment 12 and coupled to thecontroller 34. As used herein, the term “controller” is not limited tojust those integrated circuits referred to in the art as microprocessor,but broadly refers to computers, processors, microcontrollers,microcomputers, programmable logic controllers, application specificintegrated circuits, and other programmable circuits, and these termsare used interchangeably herein.

A freezer door 38 and a fresh food door 40 close access openings tofreezer storage compartment 14 and fresh food storage compartment 12.Each door 38, 40 is mounted by a top hinge 42 and a bottom hinge (notshown) to rotate about its outer vertical edge between an open position,as shown in FIG. 1, and a closed position. The freezer door 38 mayinclude a plurality of storage shelves 44 and a sealing gasket 46, andfresh food door 40 also includes a plurality of storage shelves 48 and asealing gasket 50.

The freezer storage compartment 14 may include an automatic icemaker 52and a dispenser 54 provided in the freezer door 38 such that ice and/orchilled water can be dispensed without opening the freezer door 38, asis well known in the art. Doors 38 and 40 may be opened by handles 56 isconventional. A housing 58 may hold a water filter 60 used to filterwater for the icemaker 52 and/or dispenser 54.

As with known refrigerators, the refrigerator 10 also includes amachinery compartment (not shown) that at least partially containscomponents for executing a known vapor compression cycle for coolingair. The components include a compressor, a condenser, an expansiondevice, and an evaporator connected in series as a loop and charged witha refrigerant. The evaporator is a type of heat exchanger whichtransfers heat from air passing over the evaporator to the refrigerantflowing through the evaporator, thereby causing the refrigerant tovaporize. The cooled air is used to refrigerate one or more refrigeratoror freezer compartments via fans. Also, a cooling loop can be added todirect cool the icemaker to form ice cubes, and a heating loop can beadded to help remove ice from the icemaker. Collectively, the vaporcompression cycle components in a refrigeration circuit, associatedfans, and associated compartments are conventionally referred to as asealed system. The construction and operation of the sealed system arewell known to those skilled in the art.

FIGS. 3-5 show one example of an ice dispenser system 70 according tocertain aspects of the invention. As shown therein, ice dispenser system70 is a door-mounted system. Accordingly, ice dispenser system 70 wouldtypically be mounted on freezer door 38. However, aspects of the presentdisclosure are also applicable to systems mounted elsewhere, whether ona door or elsewhere within a refrigerated compartment. Accordingly, thedepicted location on freezer door 38 or within freezer compartment 14are not limiting.

As shown, ice dispenser system includes an icemaker assembly 72, an icebucket assembly 74, and a dispensing motor assembly 76. These elementsare mounted to a housing 78 attached to door 38.

Icemaker 72 may be an automatic icemaker that makes a number of icecubes at a time automatically from a water source. Icemaker 72 maytherefore make 6-8 cubes per cycle, for instance, using ice molds 80.Ice cubes are dumped periodically into ice bucket assembly 74 in aconventional fashion. A feeler arm 82 may be provided as a shut off incase ice bucket assembly becomes full or clogged. Accordingly, if an icecube level in bucket assembly reaches feeler arm 82 causing it to move,then icemaker 72 may be automatically shut off. Similarly, if a usermanually moves the feeler arm 82 to the shut off position icemaker 72may shut off Therefore, icemaker 72 as described is conventional and anyvariety of automatic icemakers for supplying ice bucket assembly 74could be used. In alternative embodiments, icemaker 72 may include oneor more sensors configured to detect a level of ice within ice bucketassembly 74. When the detected level reaches a threshold level, icemaker72 may be automatically shut off.

Ice bucket assembly 74 includes an ice bucket 84 having a base 86 withan opening 88 in it for dispensing ice when desired by a user. Icebucket assembly 74 may further include a rotatable internal arm 90 forassisting in moving ice cubes down and through opening 88 when desiredand for breaking up and clumped together ice cubes. A motor (not shown)located within dispensing motor assembly 76 has a drive mechanism 92which engages a complimentary receiver 94 in ice bucket assembly 74 forrotating arm 90 within ice bucket 84.

Typically, a cover such as plate 96 is provided to shield the motor frommoisture above and within ice bucket 94. Plate 96 has an opening 98corresponding to opening 88 at the base of ice bucket 84. A trap door100 may be provided in housing 78, either spring loaded to a closedposition to be opened by the gravitational force of dispensed ice cubesor mechanically opened for dispensing. Trap door 100 keeps cold air inthe freezer compartment 14.

When a user operates a button 99 or paddle (not shown) within dispenser54 indicating a desire for ice cubes, trap door 100 can open or beopened, the motor can operate internal arm 90 (or auger or other device)within ice bucket 84, etc., to dispense ice to a user. As indicatedabove, various configurations and locations for these items arepossible, and use of various conventional designs for in-door andin-compartment icemakers and buckets are possible.

Icemaker 74, its water source (not shown), and all moving partsdescribed above may be connected to a controller such as controller 34or a separate controller within refrigeration appliance 10.

FIG. 6 depicts an example system 200 for regulating the operation of anicemaker according to example embodiments of the present disclosure.System 200 includes a refrigeration appliance 10, a server 210 and auser device 220. As indicated above, refrigeration appliance 10 caninclude an icemaker 74 and one or more controllers 204. Controller(s)204 may correspond to controller 34 depicted in FIG. 2 and/or othersuitable controller.

In particular, controller(s) 204 can include any number of controldevices. In one implementation, for example, controller(s) 204 caninclude one or more processor(s) and associated memory device(s)configured to perform a variety of computer-implemented functions and/orinstructions (e.g. performing the methods, steps, calculations and thelike and storing relevant data as disclosed herein). The instructionswhen executed by the processor can cause the processor to performoperations, including providing control commands to various aspects ofrefrigeration appliance 10.

As used herein, the term “processor” refers not only to integratedcircuits referred to in the art as being included in a computer, butalso refers to a controller, a microcontroller, a microcomputer, aprogrammable logic controller (PLC), an application specific integratedcircuit, and other programmable circuits. The processor is alsoconfigured to compute advanced control algorithms and communicate to avariety of Ethernet or serial-based protocols (Modbus, OPC, CAN, etc.).Additionally, the memory device(s) may generally comprise memoryelement(s) including, but not limited to, computer readable medium(e.g., random access memory (RAM)), computer readable non-volatilemedium (e.g., a flash memory), a floppy disk, a compact disc-read onlymemory (CD-ROM), a magneto-optical disk (MOD), a digital versatile disc(DVD) and/or other suitable memory elements. Such memory device(s) maygenerally be configured to store suitable computer-readable instructionsthat, when implemented by the processor(s), configure controller 104 toperform the various functions as described herein.

Refrigeration appliance 10 can further include a communication system206 configured to facilitate communication with server 210 and userdevice 220 via a network 230. Server 210 can include one or morecomputing devices configured to communicate with refrigeration appliance10 and/or user device 220 over network 230. As an example, server 210can be one or more server computing devices. In the instance that aplurality of server computing devices are used, the server computingdevices can be arranged according to any suitable computingarchitecture, including sequential computing architectures, parallelcomputing architectures, or combinations thereof. User device 220 can bea smartphone, tablet, wearable computing device, laptop computer,personal computer or any other suitable mobile computing device capableof being carried by a user while in operation).

Network 230 can be any type of communications network, such as a localarea network (e.g., intranet), wide area network (e.g., Internet), orsome combination thereof and can include any number of wired or wirelesslinks. In general, communication between the server 118 and observingentities 112 and 114 can be carried via any type of wired and/orwireless connection, using a wide variety of communication protocols(e.g., TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP, FTP), encodings or formats (e.g., HTML, XML),and/or protection schemes (e.g., VPN, secure HTTP, SSL).

In example embodiments, icemaker 74 can be controlled to make ice inaccordance with a usage profile. The usage profile can correspond to oneor more previous interactions between refrigeration appliance 10 and oneor more users. In particular, the usage profile can be determined toreflect an amount of ice typically dispensed by refrigeration appliance10 over one or more time periods. For instance, the usage profile can bedetermined at least in part from one or more signals indicative of theamount of cycles performed by icemaker 74 during one or more timeperiods, the number of instances in which ice is dispensed by adispenser associated with refrigeration appliance 10 over one or moretime periods, and/or an accumulated amount of time in which ice isdispensed by the dispenser over one or more time periods. It will beappreciated that various other suitable signals can be used withoutdeviating from the scope of the present disclosure.

The usage profile can be determined by controller(s) 204 or by one ormore remote computing devices (e.g. server 210) configured tocommunicate with refrigeration appliance 10. In the instance wherein theusage profile is determined by server 210, controller(s) 204 may beconfigured to receive one or more signals indicative of icemakeractivity, as described above, and provide the one or more signals toserver 210, for instance, via network 230. Server 210 may then determinea usage profile for icemaker 84 based at least in part on the receivedsignals, and provide the usage profile to refrigeration appliance 10.

In further embodiments, icemaker 74 can be controlled such that amaximum amount of ice is stored in refrigeration appliance 10 (e.g. inan ice bucket, such as ice bucket 84). For instance, responsive to auser request, a maximum ice mode can be implemented. During the maximumice mode, icemaker 74 may not make ice in accordance with the usageprofile. In this manner, during the maximum ice mode, the operation oficemaker 74 can be controlled such that ice is made at an increased rateuntil ice bucket 84 is full of ice. As indicated above, a feeler arm,such as feeler arm 82, can be configured to determine when the ice inice bucket 84 reaches a maximum level. In alternative embodiments, oneor more sensors can be used to determine when the ice reaches a maximumlevel. During the maximum ice mode, and responsive to the level of icein ice bucket 84 falling below the maximum level, additional ice can bemade to refill ice bucket 84 to the maximum level.

When the maximum ice mode ends, icemaker 84 can resume making ice inaccordance with the usage profile. In example embodiments, the maximumice mode can end upon the expiration of a predetermined time period. Thepredetermined time period can be set by a user, or can be a determinedby controller(s) 204, such that the maximum ice level only lasts forsome predetermined time period. In further embodiments, the maximum icemode may be ceased responsive to a user interaction, for instance, withuser device 220 and/or a user interface panel associated withrefrigeration appliance 10.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of an example method (300) of regulatingthe operation of an icemaker according to example embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Method (300) can be implemented by one or morecomputing devices, such as one or more of the computing devices depictedin FIG. 6. In addition, FIG. 7 depicts steps performed in a particularorder for purposes of illustration and discussion. Those of ordinaryskill in the art, using the disclosures provided herein, will understandthat the steps of any of the methods disclosed herein can be modified,adapted, expanded, omitted, and/or rearranged in various ways withoutdeviating from the scope of the present disclosure.

At (302), method (300) can include receiving one or more signalsindicative of one or more user interactions with an icemaker. Anicemaker can dispense ice responsive to a user interaction with theicemaker indicative of a request for ice. As indicated above, the one ormore received signals can be indicative of a number of instances inwhich the icemaker dispenses ice, a number of ice cycles performed by anicemaker, and/or an accumulated amount of time during which the icemakerdispenses ice. The received signals can correspond to one or more timeperiods. For instance, the received signals can correspond to one ormore hours, days, weeks, etc.

At (304), method (300) can include determining a usage profile for theicemaker. The usage profile can be determined based at least in part onthe one or more received signals. The usage profile can correspond to anamount of ice to be made by the icemaker during various time periods.The usage profile can reflect one or more previous interactions betweenone or more users and the icemaker. For instance, if a refrigerator userlives alone, and generally works from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekdays(and thereby requests little ice during these times), the usage profilecan indicate that a small amount of ice should be made during thesetimes. If the user is generally home on weekends (and requests moreice), then the usage profile can indicate that an increased amount ofice should be made on weekends to accommodate the increased amount ofice generally requested by the user. As another example, if the usergenerally sleeps through the night, the usage profile can indicate thata small amount of ice should be made at night.

In example embodiments, the usage profile can be determined during aninitial time period. In particular, the initial time period cancorrespond to a time period immediately following an initial activationof a refrigeration appliance. For instance, the initial time period canbe a period of 10 days after a user activates the refrigerationappliance for the first time. The usage profile can be determined basedon icemaker activity during the initial time period.

The usage profile can include upper and lower bounds of icemakeractivity. The upper and lower bounds can fluctuate over various timeperiods to reflect the typical ice request patterns of one or more usersassociated with the refrigeration appliance. Once a usage profile isdetermined, user interactions with the icemaker can be monitored todetermine if the usage profile should be updated. In particular, if anamount of ice requested by a user falls outside of the bounds of theusage profile, the usage profile can be updated based on the variationin activity. The updated usage profile may include adjusted upper andlower bounds. In this manner, the usage profile can adapt to changinguser patterns and/or variations in icemaker activity.

At (306), method (300) can include controlling the operation of theicemaker such that the icemaker makes ice in accordance with the usageprofile. In particular, one or more control commands can be sent to theicemaker. The one or more control commands can be indicative of anamount to ice to be made at various times. In particular, the amount ofice to be made by the icemaker can be determined based on the usageprofile. The amount of ice to be made can further be based on a level ofice currently being stored by a refrigeration appliance. For instance,if there is a sufficient level of ice already being stored by therefrigeration appliance to accommodate the usage profile, no additionalice may be made. The icemaker can then be configured to operate inaccordance with the one or more control commands.

As described above, the icemaker can be further configured to make icein accordance with a maximum ice mode. For instance, FIG. 8 depicts aflow diagram of an example method (400) of regulating the operation ofan icemaker in accordance with a maximum ice mode according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure. At (402), method (400) caninclude receiving a request to implement a maximum ice mode. Forinstance, the request can be a user request. In example embodiments, theuser request can correspond to a user input on a user interface panel ofa refrigeration appliance, or a user input on a user device configuredto communicate with the refrigeration appliance. The request may specifya time at which a full ice bucket is needed. For instance, if a user isthrowing a party, the user may wish to have a full bucket of ice at thestart of the party to accommodate the user's guests. In this manner, theuser may make a request to enter maximum ice mode, and may specify atime corresponding to the start of the party.

At (404), method (400) can include determining a time to initiate themaximum ice mode. In particular, if no time is specified along with themaximum ice mode request, the determined time may correspond to thecurrent time. However, if a time is specified with the request, thedetermined time can correspond to an amount of time for which it takesthe icemaker to make enough ice to reach a maximum level of ice in anice bucket. The time it takes to fill an ice bucket to a maximum levelof ice can depend on, for instance, the rate at which ice is made, thenumber of ice cubes made per icemaker cycle, the size of the ice bucket,an amount of ice currently in the ice bucket, etc. For instance, if anicemaker requires 2 hours to fill an ice bucket at a certain rate, thedetermined time can be a time corresponding to approximately 2 hoursbefore the specified time.

At (406), method (400) can include controlling the operation of theicemaker such that the icemaker begins making ice at the determinedtime. The icemaker can then make ice until the ice in the ice bucketreaches a maximum level. In alternative embodiments, the operation ofthe icemaker can be controlled such that, at the determined time, theicemaker increases a rate at which it makes ice. In this manner, thedetermined time can correspond to an amount of time it takes for theicemaker to fill the ice bucket at the increased rate.

At (408), method (400) can include controlling the operation of theicemaker such that, while operating in accordance with the maximum icemode, and when the level of ice in the ice bucket falls below themaximum level, the icemaker makes additional ice to refill the icebucket to the maximum level. In this manner, while the maximum ice modeis implemented, a maximum level of ice can be maintained in the icebucket.

At (410), method (400) can include receiving a signal indicative of arequest to end the maximum ice mode. For instance, in continuing theabove example, when the party ends, the user may request that maximumice mode is ceased (e.g. through interaction with the user device and/orthe user interface panel located on the refrigeration appliance). Inalternative embodiments, as indicated above, the maximum ice mode canend upon the expiration of a predetermined time period. The time periodcan be chosen by a user, for instance, to correspond to an amount oftime the maximum amount of ice will be needed, or the time period may bepredetermined by a controller, such as controller(s) 204.

At (412), method (400) can include, responsive to receiving the requestto exit the maximum ice mode, controlling the operation of the icemakersuch that the icemaker resumes making ice in accordance with the usageprofile. Continuing the above example, once the party ends, the user mayrequire less ice than during the party. In this manner, the icemaker canresume making ice at a rate consistent with the user's previouspatterns.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention,including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the invention, including making and using any devices orsystems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope ofthe invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examplesthat occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intendedto be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elementsthat do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if theyinclude equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differencesfrom the literal languages of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of regulating theoperation of an icemaker, the method comprising: receiving, by one ormore computing devices, one or more signals indicative of icemakeractivity over one or more time periods; determining, by the one or morecomputing devices, a usage profile associated with the icemaker based atleast in part on the one or more received signals, the usage profilebeing associated with an amount of ice to be made by the icemaker; andcontrolling, by the one or more computing devices, the operation of theicemaker such that the icemaker makes ice in accordance with the usageprofile.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more receivedsignals are indicative of a number of cycles performed by the icemakerover the one or more time periods.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein theone or more received signals are indicative of a number of instances inwhich ice is dispensed by a dispenser associated with the icemaker overthe one or more time periods.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the oneor more received signals are indicative of an accumulated time for whichice is dispensed by the dispenser over the one or more time periods. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the usage profile is further indicativeof an amount of ice to be made by the icemaker over one or more timeperiods.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the usage profile comprisesupper and lower bounds of icemaker activity.
 7. The method of claim 6,further comprising: receiving, by the one or more computing devices, oneor more signals indicative of icemaker activity that falls outside ofthe upper or lower bounds; and updating, by the one or more computingdevices, the usage profile based at least in part on the one or moresignals indicative of the icemaker activity that falls outside of theupper or lower bounds.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a request from a userto implement a maximum ice mode; and controlling, by the one or morecomputing devices, the operation of the icemaker, such that, during themaximum ice mode, when a level of ice in an ice bucket associated withthe icemaker falls below a maximum level, the icemaker makes anadditional amount of ice to refill the ice bucket to the maximum level.9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, by the one ormore computing devices, a signal indicative of a request to end themaximum ice mode; and responsive to receiving the signal, controlling,by the one or more computing devices, the operation of the icemaker suchthat the icemaker resumes making ice in accordance with the usageprofile.
 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: responsive toreceiving the request to implement the maximum ice mode, determining, bythe one or more computing devices, a time to initiate the maximum icemode; and at the determined time, controlling, by the one or morecomputing devices, the operation of the icemaker such that the icemakerincreases a rate of making ice in accordance with the maximum ice mode.11. An icemaker assembly for an appliance, comprising: an ice cube moldconfigured to form ice cubes, a water valve configured to provide waterto the ice cube mold, an ice cube storage bin associated with the icecube mold, the ice cube storage bin configured to receive ice cubes fromthe ice cube mold, an ice cube storage bin sensor configured to sense anice cube level in the ice cube storage bin; and one or more controllersassociated with the icemaker assembly, the one or more controllersconfigured to control an amount of ice cubes formed by the ice cube moldby: receiving one or more signals indicative of icemaker assemblyactivity during one or more time periods; determining a usage profileassociated with the icemaker assembly based at least in part on the oneor more received signals, the usage profile being associated with anamount of ice to be made by the icemaker assembly; and controlling theoperation of the icemaker assembly such that the icemaker assembly makesice in accordance with the usage profile.
 12. The icemaker assembly ofclaim 11, wherein the one or more received signals are indicative of anumber of cycles performed by the icemaker assembly during the one ormore time periods.
 13. The icemaker assembly of claim 12, wherein theone or more received signals are indicative of a number of instances inwhich ice is dispensed by a dispenser associated with the icemakerassembly during the one or more time periods.
 14. The icemaker assemblyof claim 13, wherein the one or more received signals are indicative ofan accumulated time for which ice is dispensed by the dispenser duringthe one or more time periods.
 15. The icemaker assembly of claim 11,wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to control anamount of ice cubes formed by the ice cube mold by: receiving a requestfrom a user to implement a maximum ice mode; and controlling theoperation of the icemaker assembly such that, during the maximum icemode, when the ice cube level in the ice cube storage bin falls below amaximum level, the icemaker assembly makes an additional amount of iceto refill the ice cube storage bin to the maximum level.
 16. A systemfor controlling the operation of an icemaker, the system comprising: oneor more processors; and one or more memory devices, the one or morememory devices storing computer-readable instructions that when executedby the one or more processors cause the one or more processors toperform operations, the operations comprising: receiving one or moresignals indicative of activity of an icemaker assembly during one ormore time periods, the icemaker assembly configured to make an amount ofice and store the ice in an ice storage bin; determining a usage profileassociated with the icemaker assembly based at least in part on the oneor more received signals, the usage profile being associated with anamount of ice to be made by the icemaker assembly; and controlling theoperation of the icemaker assembly such that the icemaker assembly makesice in accordance with the usage profile.
 17. The system of claim 16,wherein the usage profile comprises upper and lower bounds of icemakeractivity.
 18. The system of claim 17, the operations further comprising:receiving one or more signals indicative of icemaker assembly activitythat falls outside of the upper or lower bounds; and updating the usageprofile based at least in part on the one or more signals indicative ofthe icemaker activity that falls outside of the upper or lower bounds.